My Big Iranian Birthday Celebration

by Yaghoub
(Los Angeles, USA)

I was born in the United States and am Iranian American. Even though my family moved from Iran to the United States after the revolution in 1979, they continue to embrace and celebrate their culture.

I have also been fortunate to celebrate birthdays in the traditional Iranian way.

On birthdays, the entire family gets together at home for what is called a “mehmoonee,” which is pretty much a dinner party with a lot of traditional food: Persian pastries, Persian tea, and wonderful company.

Coming from a large family I have many cousins my age. When we were younger, we would choreograph our own dances to Iranian songs and dress up in traditional clothing to put on a show for the parents. It was one of our favorite things to do.

Now, being older, we have a new tradition: before cutting the cake, a couple of females of the family will hold a knife and prepare for the knife dance. The knife dance (which is also performed at Persian weddings) signifies prosperity. The female holding the decorated knife dances around the birthday boy or girl to a Persian song, and eventually hands the knife to the birthday boy or girl to cut the cake.

Another custom my family enjoys is dancing to Persian music after we have the cake. Everyone partakes in this dancing, and it is truly fun! Sometimes, we also hire a belly dancer, and after she performs, we all start to dance.